A Quick Word on Online Behavior

I think we all know the golden rule: Don’t be a tool. These days it seems like whenever I login to League of Legends or Halo or Call of Duty, I find my experience ruined by people berating each other for being terrible or calling each other names. This is partly due to the way the metagame is constructed rewarding teams that do well and having players fixated on that instead of the enjoyment of the game. But all the blame can’t rest on the way that games are put together, because many online aspects of games are made very well and work wonderfully. No, the blame rests on us, the people using the videogames.

There are monkey hating ragers on this Monday to Friday plane.

When you become just a name on someone else’s screen you don’t have the right to become a horrible human being. If I walked up to people on the street and didn’t like the way they walked and called them an offensive name (I don’t think I really need to list examples, use your imagination) chances are I would get punched in the mouth. Why? Because being a jerk makes you a jerk and people don’t take kindly to that.

Honestly, this isn’t a terribly hard concept and I wish that people acted like they understood it. Others on GIO have blogged about the same thing, and yet I feel the need to reiterate this. Even five-year olds know it isn’t okay to call other people names. Why can’t adults seem to grasp the concept in an online setting?

If this blog seems sloppily constructed it is a result of stream of consciousness writing after a very nasty encounter with a LoL player. He swore repeatedly, called everyone names, blamed everyone for his mistakes, used a good deal of ethnic slurs, and made the game incredibly unpleasant. I wish that this was an isolated incident, but I’ve noticed it a lot and I hope that as new generations are raised with the internet always around that it doesn’t become an accepted part of gaming culture.

To finish: Be nice. Love your internet neighbor. Don’t make me so frustrated that I want to punch a monkey… because I love monkeys.

(Note: I will be gone on vacation for the next week or so. Look for my coming at dawn on the seventh day)